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Have those who denounce The Passion as anti-Semitic actually read the biblical accounts on which the film is purportedly based? The detractors are basing their accusation on the portrayal of Jewish leaders and a Jewish mob as responsible for the decision to crucify Jesus. Um, yea, that is what it says in the well attested ancient document called the New Testament—they were responsible for the HUMAN decision… but go back a bit to the scene in the garden. Jesus prays and weeps to his Father—God, the king of the Universe—to take the cup—the crucifixion—from him. In the end, it is the Father’s will and the Son’s FREE choice that causes the crucifixion. A choice of love. The actions of the mobs and of the Jewish leaders and of the Roman government did not kill Jesus. Jesus gave his life.

Get the facts. Read the book—four reliable accounts are available: The Gospel According to Matthew (a Jew), The Gospel According to Mark (a Jew), the Gospel According to Luke (a Gentile God-fearer), and The Gospel According to John (a Jew). So four people from religious Jewish backgrounds write about the life, death, and resurrection of a religious Jew, and somehow this is anti-Semitic? Huh? I realize the incredible abuses of the past. I have seen the visuals. I understand—at least in my heart—the cry, “Never again.” But realize that those who turn the story of Messiah Jesus into anti-Semitism have distorted the truth of the thing: Jesus gave his life. No one took it—not me, not you, not the Jewish leaders, not the Jerusalem mob, not the Roman government. Free gifts can’t be taken. And a final note to the “Christians” out there who dare to make the Good News anti-anyone: read Romans! Everyone is in the same boat without Messiah!! It’s not about us and them—it’s about Him. He is Messiah, Savior, Creator of everything. He is God and in him the dividing lines disappear (see Galatians 3:28).

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ON TO OTHER STUFF

Once in a while, I get this feeling that I’m in way over my head. I begin to question whether I should be doing this—whatever “this” is—at all. Maybe it’s a brain thing. Maybe it’s a hormone thing. Maybe it’s just self-doubt (not an entirely bad thing). I don’t know. With all my opinions and theoretical pontifications, I still have trouble with the stuff of normal ministerial practice. I’m just not sure if ministerial ‘common sense’ is as intuitive as I assume. Maybe it’s not intuitive at all. Maybe that’s something—some line—I’ve told myself. Maybe my expectations of myself are too high (it has been known to happen). I’ve thought of solutions to this self-informing circle—as if self-developed solutions are the answer to the self-informing circle. Solutions like: join a small group, get a mentor, be a mentor, get more training, etc. These are rational, normal, common solutions to intellectual, ministerial inbreeding. Whether these hold the solution I do not know—much of it depends on someone else’s participation. One thing I do know: Somehow there needs to be a space in my life filled with a diverse groups of fellow Christ-followers, diverse enough to stir up the green-house-grown, self-informing circle I call my mind.